Taehyung watched as the younger carefully looked at the manu card. They were at a restaurant, half way through another date. Taehyung took the younger to see some more attractions, fulfilling his promise to show him Seoul.

Jungkook scanned the menu card for few more seconds before looking up at Taehyung.

"Ready to order?" Taehyung asked in a soft voice and Jungkook gave a nod in response.

The elder looked around to catch the eye of a waiter, who rushed to their table. After taking the order, the waitress walked away, but not before giving a one last lustfull stare at Jungkook's tattoos, which was peaking out from his jacket sleeve.

Taehyung had already noticed the way the girl eyed Jungkook, from the moment she came to their table. Her eyes switched between Jungkook's tattoos and eyebrow piercing so much, that he was worried whether she took the order properly even. Which is why Taehyung politely asked her to repeat the order, as he didn't want it to be messed up.

No, Taehyung was not jealous or concerned. The girl is human and could never understand or compete with the hold he has over Jungkook's heart. And if he's honest, he can't deny the fact that Jungkook is extremely gorgeous and hot. People just couldn't help stare.

But the important thing is, that's all they could do. Stare. Taehyung can afford to be little generous, since Jungkook was his for everything else.

Taehyung didn't realise he was smirking till Jungkook looked at him with a questioning gaze.

"The waitress-" Taehyung tilted his head towards the direction she went. "She was checking you out."

Jungkook's lips twitched as he tried to look unconcerned. "I noticed."

"You did?" Taehyung's voice sounded little skeptical, since he didn't notice any reaction from younger.

"Of course I did. She was very obvious." Jungkook's eyes glint mischievously. "Why? Were you jealous?"

Taehyung laughed merrily at that. "Not at all. Beautiful things should be admired by everyone. From far."

It was Jungkook's turn to laugh now. He really liked this fun and relaxed Taehyung. Earlier, there was always this tension between them, mainly because of the unspoken feeling they both had. But now, it's as if they have fallen in to a comfortable companionship. Both in somewhat equal standings, instead of how Jungkook used to depend on Taehyung.

The arrival of their food stopped their conversation. The waitress was overly friendly with Jungkook, who in turn smiled at her rather sweetly too. That made the girl ecstatic and that's when Taehyung thought he should put his feet down.

"Thank you." Taehyung said with a polite smile. "That should be enough for now. We'll call you if we need anything else."

The girl looked as if she wanted to say something else, but then decided to leave. She gave another charming smile to Jungkook before leaving the table.

Jungkook raised his eyebrows at the elder, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Like I said, beauty needs to be admired. From far."

Rest of the meal went rather silently, with only occasional word or two. They were having dessert when Jungkook phone rang. He looked at the screen for few seconds and put it face down on the table. It rang for three times before finally become silent.

"It's mom." Jungkook said after few seconds, even though Taehyung didn't ask.

"Oh."

"She's been calling a lot lately. Dad too."

Taehyung mentally smacked himself for forgetting about Jungkook's parents. He should have called them and assured that the younger is safe. Do they even know where Jungkook is? Taehyung quickly voiced his question.

"Do they know you're with me?"

Jungkook looked away before answering. "No. I told them I was with a friend. They don't even know I'm in Seoul."

There was a few seconds of silence as Taehyung tired to guess the younger's reason for hiding the situation from his parents. "Can I know why?"

Jungkook took about a minute to answer and Taehyung patiently waited.

"I didn't knew what to expect." Jungkook's voice was barely a whisper. "I still don't."

"Koo-"

"You have a life here too, hyungie. A job, friends. People who treat you like family. I didn't knew whether you.."

Jungkook didn't voice the rest of the question but Taehyung can understand what it is. What he didn't knew at this point, was the answer.

"The only reason you left the pack, is because you wanted to stay away from me right?"

Taehyung absolutely hated the way Jungkook's voice broke at the latter part of that question. You might be able to earn forgiveness for your mistakes. But you will never be able fully reverse the impact it caused. And sometimes, the ugly residue of the pain it caused, seeps through the cracks. Making you realise from time to time, that's it's not whole, just mended.

"Yes." Taehyung answered with a sigh. "Your safety was the only reason."

"Then will you come back? Now that your not running away from me? Dad never renounced your position as the future head alpha. The pack thinks you're under training somewhere. Only a handful of people know you left."

Jungkook paused for few minutes, as if to give Taehyung time to think about what he said. He doesn't want to push Taehyung. Part of him knows that it's a decision that the elder needs to take by himself. But the bigger part of him is just scared.

Scared that if he pressured Taehyung too much, the latter might snap and run away again. And Jungkook was sure that he wouldn't survive a second time. He loves his pack very much, but he can't help but be a little selfish this time.

If Taehyung decide that he'll stay in Seoul, Jungkook will not oppose that. As long as he gets to stay with Taehyung too.

The sound of Jungkook's phone ringing pulled both of them out of the deep thoughts they were in. Jungkook picked up the phone to see the caller ID and looked back at Taehyung with cautious eyes. "It's dad."

After a moment of pause, Taehyung extended his hand forward and Jungkook gave him the phone.

"Uncle Junghyun, it me... yeah... I'm sorry for not letting you know earlier, but Jungkook is staying with me... yes, he is.. no no, he's not in any trouble. He's- he's with me...."

Jungkook watched with wide eyes as the call dragged on. Taehyung was silent for most parts and Jungkook wasn't sure whether he's listening to what his father was saying or whether both of them were not speaking.

"Yes. Just give me some time, Uncle. I'll bring him home." Taehyung reached forward and gently held Jungkook's hand, which was resting on the table. "We will both come home."